Sheffield Cathedral welcomes Chapman brothers sculpture

The Chapman brothers' work shows a scarred figure turned upside down

A sculpture of a naked, bleeding man by artists Jake and Dinos Chapman has been installed in Sheffield Cathedral as part of a major city-wide exhibition.

Cyber Iconic Man by the Chapman brothers, two of Britain's more hard-hitting contemporary artists, is in the cathedral's Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

Works by Maurizio Cattelan and Turner Prize winners Douglas Gordon and Susan Philipsz are also in the cathedral.

It is one of five venues showing works loaned by leading European collectors.

The Church of England cathedral has joined museums and galleries in staging Going Public, a collaboration between the city's venues and private art collectors from the UK, Italy, Germany and France.

The works in the cathedral have been loaned by the Turin-based Sandretto Re Rebaudengo collection.

Goshka Macuga's tapestry Plus Ultra hangs in the nave

They include a large tapestry showing drowning African migrants, the Twin Towers and the G20 leaders, by former Turner Prize nominee Goshka Macuga, which is hanging in the nave.

The Chapman brothers' work dates from 1996 and shows a figure turned upside down, with blood-like liquid running from his scars.

The Very Reverend Peter Bradley, dean of Sheffield Cathedral, said: "A lot of classic religious art shows images of really rather frightening violence, [such as] the crucifixion. But we don't notice that because we don't actually see it as violence. We see it purely as an illustration of a story.

"Some of these artworks invite us to reflect on violence, and violence in a religious context, in a new way, and that's strong, certainly."

The Very Rev Peter Bradley pictured with Cerith Wyn Evans's In Girum Imus Nocte et Consumimur Igni

The cathedral is showing 10 artworks in total. Dean Bradley said he had asked for pieces that "have quite a punch", so they were not "overwhelmed by the building".

He said he had already had some "very interesting discussions" about the artworks with members of the congregation.

'Reality of society'

He said: "Some people think they're fabulous. Some people don't like them. Some people have an open mind.

"There are people who complain about our Christmas tree every year, so there will be people who don't like it. Some of that will be a reasoned dislike, which is well worth investigating and we take very seriously.

"Some of it will be [saying], 'The cathedral shouldn't engage with this.' What we won't take seriously is not engaging with contemporary culture, because that's what we're there for.

"We're not here as a historic artefact. We're here as a contemporary Christian community engaging with the reality of contemporary British society."

Funding under threat

Going Public is also taking place at the Graves Gallery, which is showing a collection of Marcel Duchamp works and archives, as well as Site Gallery, the Millennium Gallery and Sheffield Hallam's University's Institute of the Arts.

The aim of the project is to forge relationships with private collectors and philanthropists at a time when public arts funding is under threat, according to Museums Sheffield chief executive Kim Streets.

"I hope we can develop a longer term relationship from this particular group [of collectors] and that will enable us to bring other work to the city in the future," she said.

"And putting philanthropy in the spotlight will, we hope, make other introductions and begin a slightly wider conversation.

"We need to look closer to home to begin a conversation about philanthropy in the UK and in the North."